Level Global Investors have agreed to pay more than $21.5  million in fines to the SEC to settle charges that it’s Co-Founder, Anthony Chiasson, engaged in insider trading in the securities of of Dell Inc. and Nvidia Corp.  Also charged was former analyst, Spyridon “Sam” Adondakis, five investment professionals, and the hedge fund advisory firm, Diamondback Capital Management.

The SEC’s complaint is as follows; in 2008 and 2009 Adondaki passed information on to Chiasson regarding Dell and Nvidia’s revenues and profit margins, which indicated that the companies’ quarterly results would be quite different than the general expectations on Wall Street. In turn, Chiasson gained millions of dollars in alleged illegal profits by using this information on behalf of hedge funds managed by Level Global.

Level Global does not admit or deny the charges, and they have not yet been proven in court. Adondakis has pleaded guilty to parallel criminal charges and admitted liability for insider trading. Chiasson was convicted of securities fraud in December 2012 for a parallel criminal proceeding.

The investigation continues by the SEC’s Market Abuse Unit in New York. You may view the full article here: http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2013/2013-76.htm. We will keep you posted on any new findings.